The Issue of Post-Merger Integration Boundary Management: A Sociomaterial Perspective

This study analyzes the interactions among individuals engaged in two information system development (ISD) projects aimed to support an organization created by the merger of previously independent entities. The literature on post-merger integration (PMI) suggests that new information systems (IS) that would span the boundaries of the previously independent firms need to be implemented to facilitate a specific level of integration. Yet, there is a lack of studies on the issue of post-merger boundary management during ISD projects. We draw on a sociomaterial perspective to analyze two ISD projects in a PMI context of a merger of three hospitals. In both projects, the final IS-enabled practices differed from the post-merger practices that had been planned by the new hospital management. Our analysis suggests that post-merger practices were the result of dialectic processes of resistance to, and negotiation of, the two systems reconfiguration after their implementation

Unpredictable Reconfigurations

A merger is the result of a strategic decision aimed at creating synergy. Notwithstanding mergers’ expected benefits, their outcomes are often beset by problems such as employees’ high levels of stress, dissatisfaction and resistance. Research suggests that these problems are often related to the issue of boundary management during the post-merger integration phase (PMI), which refers to the degree of integration required among the merging parties and the degree of autonomy, that each must retain for the merger to achieve synergy. The literature identifies information systems (IS) as being a key enabler of successful mergers and suggests that during PMI, new ISs that span the boundaries of the previously independent firms need to be implemented to facilitate a specific level of integration. Yet, there is a paucity of studies on the issue of boundary management at the information technology (IT) level during PMI. Adopting a sociomaterial perspective and based on a qualitative study within a healthcare organization, the authors find that post-merger practices were the result of dialectic processes of resistance to, and negotiation of, the IS reconfiguration after its implementation